Box office goes 'Apes'

July 15, 2014 12:01 AM

FILE - This Feb. 7, 2014 file photo shows Robert Redford at the 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival's American Riviera Award ceremony in Santa Barbara, Calif. Redford will play Dan Rather in a film about the CBS anchor's disputed report about President George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War. The film, titled "Truth," will be adapted from the memoir "Truth And Duty: The Press, The President, And The Privilege Of Power" by CBS producer Mary Mapes. Cate Blanchett is signed on to play Mapes. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)Invision

July 15, 2014 12:01 AM

The monkey business is a good business at the box office.

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" roared to $73 million on its opening weekend, one of the summer's best debuts.

The sequel easily surpassed the $54.8 million opening to 2011's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," the reboot of the fabled chimp franchise.

In a summer heavy on hype but thin on quality, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" has proved to be one of the few hits that combined both spectacle and substance.

After two weeks on top, the Michael Bay action sequel "Transformers: Age of Extinction" slid to second with $16.5 million. Its three-week domestic total is now $209 million. The Melissa McCarthy comedy "Tammy" came in third with $12.9 million.

Though bad reviews have dampened the response to McCarthy's latest, the relatively low-budget release has made $57.4 million for Warner Bros. in two weeks.

The summer overall is down 20 percent from last year, which was a record season for Hollywood.

Redford signs

to play Rather

Robert Redford will play Dan Rather in a film about the former CBS anchor's disputed report about President George W. Bush's National Guard service during the Vietnam War.

Mythology Entertainment says the film is titled "Truth," and will be adapted from the memoir "Truth And Duty: The Press, The President, And The Privilege Of Power" by former CBS producer Mary Mapes.

The production company says Cate Blanchett is signed on to play Mapes. Shooting is expected to begin in the fall.

Tucci to star

in Pivot TV show

Pivot is getting into scripted drama with a new TV series starring former Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci.

The nearly year-old network focuses on viewers 18 to 34. It plans to launch "Fortitude" in January with 12 one-hour episodes.

Tucci plays a detective who arrives in a small Arctic town called Fortitude to search for a killer alongside the local sheriff played by Richard Dormer, who's known for "Game of Thrones."

The series was filmed in Iceland and Britain.

McKellen to play

93-year-old Holmes

British actor Ian McKellen will play a 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes in a new movie.

Filming has begun on "Mr. Holmes," which imagines the famous sleuth in his old age as a retiree living in seclusion by the sea.

The movie, based on Mitch Cullin's novel "A Slight Trick of the Mind," sees the detective struggling with a failing memory and revisiting one final unresolved mystery.

The 75-year-old McKellen tweeted a picture of himself in costume as Holmes this week, saying: "Over 70 actors have previously played Sherlock Holmes. Now he's 93 years old and it's my turn."

Church officials

dispute Carlin Way

A bureaucratic error has put a Catholic church on a New York City street named after comedian George Carlin.

Carlin skewered the church in his act and gained fame with his foul-mouthed "seven dirty words" routine.

After he died in 2008, fellow comedians proposed naming the stretch of 121st Street where he grew up George Carlin Way.

Priests at Corpus Christi Church objected because Carlin used to mock the church and crack jokes about parish priests.

Under a compromise, one block was to be named after Carlin -- not the block where the church is.

When George Carlin Way became official last week, because of a clerical error it's two blocks long and includes the church.